11 Building Bridges of Love

Studying this lesson will help you:

• Explain how the incarnation of Christ, both His renunciation and identification, serves as a primary model for communicating the gospel.
• Describe different aspects of humility that are crucial to missionary work.
• Describe how a missionary can begin to develop a sense of belonging in a new culture.
• Explain the necessity of “bicultural” bridges for cross-cultural gospel communication.
• Describe how a missionary can maintain a single core identity when communicating with widely different audiences: the church, the unreached, and the secular world.

Missionaries can only make their message clear if they are recognized as credible messengers. How can missionaries from foreign cultures be received as trustworthy?

Ever since Paul’s day, missionaries have been learning how to choose and develop relationships that make it possible to bridge the gap between cultures. Forming relationships is essential to conveying the message in other cultures. This lesson explores how to form and extend those important relationships within different social structures.

Christ is our model. His incarnation is a tremendous pattern of identifying with the human condition and culture. Foreigners may be tolerated but not trusted, unless they are accepted in some way as “belongers” with some understandable role in society. How much of a “belonger” can outsiders become? Is it possible to so thoroughly identify with a new culture that people perceive the missionary as one of them? We’ll find that identification has its limits. With Christlike attitudes, however, missionaries have been learning how to humble themselves as “learners” before they assert themselves as communicators.

We’ll see that the most effective communicators in any society are not missionaries but local people who were born in that culture. Not every person communicates with equal power to others of their own society. We’ll examine some of the fascinating possibilities of beginning gospel communication with the people who have the highest potential to lead many of their people to believe and obey Christ.

If missionaries are successful, it’s not because they recognize intricate sociological structures or because they have mastered the local language. Mission workers are fruitful because their love for others opens the way for their speech to be heard and trusted. Their love becomes the authentication of Christ’s love. The heart of mission work is building bridges of love.

I. A Biblical Model: Incarnation

The writers of the Willowbank Report have examined the importance of issues of missionary humility and identity by considering the life and present-day ministry of Jesus. When Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21), He was saying that we would be sent in the same way that God the Father sent and guided Jesus. We are honored to follow Jesus in His marvelous humility.

A. Missionary Humility. When considering cross-cultural com-munication, there are five aspects of humility worth considering:

1. Challenged by the Importance and Difficulty. The task of cross-cultural communication requires special effort to see beyond the limits of our own culture.

2. Need to Understand. Take the trouble to understand, appreciate, and dialogue with the cultures to which we go.

3. Start Where People Are. Humility seeks to begin with the needs and issues that the recipient people feel are important.

4. Recognize Locals. Humility recognizes the superior potential of local Christians to communicate in their culture.

5. Trust the Spirit. Humility relies on the Holy Spirit to do what we can never do: open the eyes of the blind and reveal Jesus.

B. Incarnation as a Model. With the source and model of humility found in Christ Himself, we are open to considering two large areas: sacrifice and service. Or, to use different words, renunciation and identification. Meditate on these crucial matters. How important is it to emulate our Lord in these ways to advance the gospel?

1. Renunciation. Jesus renounced status, independence, and immunity.

2. Identification. Jesus entered fully into our human condition. His example challenges our lifestyles and attitudes. The incarnation of Jesus teaches us identification without loss of identity.

II. Finding a Place: Building the Bicultural Bridge Communication across cultures requires relationships that span the gap between cultures. Paul Hiebert uses the term “bicultural bridge” to describe the critically important relationships between missionaries and their counterparts in the recipient culture.

A. Forming Special Bridging Relationships. A bicultural bridge is formed when members of two different cultures learn to understand and adapt to each other’s culture, thus enabling meaningful two-way communication between the cultures. This results in a third culture with newly defined rules and shared assumptions. This illustrates why missionaries can never truly “go native” by becoming members of the host culture.

B. Finding Effective Roles. Sometimes missionaries succeed in introducing themselves into a culture but discover later that the local people have ascribed to them unwanted roles and identities. Hiebert introduces the importance of roles and illustrates how missionaries must choose their roles carefully to develop effective relationships for cross-cultural communication. Before local people can consider the message, they must understand the messenger. Even before the question “Who are you?” comes the question, “What are you?”

1. Roles in the Culture. If missionaries fail to present themselves in appropriate roles, the people of the local culture will place them in a role that is intelligible to them. Sometimes those roles are not helpful for encouraging the kinds of friendships that enhance communication of the gospel.

2. Roles in the Church. Missionaries must be careful to examine the roles they are given in local culture since those same relationships are often carried over into relationships with fellow Christians. Instead of assuming a superior role or that of an authoritarian empire builder, missionaries should seek to relate to local Christians as siblings and servants, according to the biblical model.

III. Entry Roles: Becoming a Learner

A. Culture Shock: Starting Over. Hiebert says that the term “culture shock” describes the experience of people who realize that the new culture will be their life and their home. What most tourists experience is not true culture shock but what Hiebert calls “culture stress.” With this distinction in mind, do most short-term missionaries experience genuine culture shock, or do they experience a measure of culture stress? The cure is the same for either experience: Accept one’s new role as a child still learning how to find one’s way.

B. An Initial Role: Becoming a Learner. Donald N. Larson describes why the most important time of role definition that missionaries will face is when they initially enter the culture. He says that the role of a learner serves well because it demonstrates humility and offers dignity to the local people.

IV. The Limits of Identification

William D. Reyburn examines the limits of missionary identification. An important part of the missionary task is to search for a point of connection or contact. Without establishing such a point of relational contact, missionaries have sometimes not assumed responsibility for communication. Deeply ingrained habits and attitudes can limit missionary identification.

A. Unconscious Habits and Local Perceptions. Difficulties in identification can arise from our unconscious, habitual way of doing things—such as the way we walk. The greatest barriers to identification are the perceptions and categories of the new community. Most cultures have a distinctive category for those who have been born into the culture.

B. Missionary Attitudes. Deeply rooted attitudes, such as private ownership or what food we are willing to stomach, can be overcome by willing missionaries who are pursuing an authentic expression of love.

V. Bonding and Relationships

The idea of “bonding” adds dimension to the concept of building bridges. Elizabeth S. and E. Thomas Brewster use this idea to show how missionaries can find themselves relationally connected and take on the role of a learner.

A. Bonding as Early Attachment. The Brewsters introduce the concept of “bonding,” which describes the initial attachment of newborn babies to their parents. The idea of bonding illustrates how missionaries can form deep attachments with local people and become “belongers” in a new culture. They suggest practical ways that missionaries can intentionally identify with a new culture by immersing themselves in their social environment.

B. Language and Culture Learning. Pay special attention to the way the Brewsters refer to language learning. Many people consider themselves failures as language students. The Brewsters encourage us to view language learning as a social, rather than an academic, activity. As “learners” rather than “students,” we most effectively learn language and culture in a rich social context of personal relationships.

VI. Identity with Integrity: Serving in a Terrorized, Globalized, and Pluralized World

Do missionaries destroy local cultures? Are they harmful to society? We can assume that most people in our world would answer yes to these questions. We’ve already heard how the facts say otherwise (see Woodberry, “The Social Impact of Christian Missions,” pp. 177–80). In a world where holding dual identities is virtually impossible, how should mission endeavors be conducted? How can foreign missionaries identify themselves among the nations?

A. A World Made Wary of Missionaries. Rick Love describes three massive global trends that change the ways people live, learn, and form relationships: terrorism, globalization, and pluralism. The hostility and threat of terrorism, the unwanted transparency of globalization, and the bigoted intolerance of religious pluralism make it difficult to maintain an identity with integrity. Love describes these difficulties and offers some ways to sustain one’s identity with integrity while being watched by different audiences.

B. A Triple Audience for a Single Identity. Love sees three different audiences, each perceiving missionaries and what they say from a distinctive viewpoint:

1. The unreached community, to whom we aim to present the gospel.

2. The onlooking secular world, to whom we must at times work to defend the gospel.

3. The church, with whom we seek to recruit and co-labor for the gospel.

Love says, “It is impossible to communicate with any one of these audiences separately” (p. 344). Anything presented in one setting will eventually be made clear to the others. The only real solution is to find an identity that is the same from all three points of view.

C. Aligning Our Identity. Instead of adding more complicated, intricate security systems to protect multiple identities, Love suggests that we can simplify our identities by operating out of our core. He suggests that we will do well to align ourselves with three aspects of our “core.”

1. Clearly speak our core message, the irreducible gospel message of Jesus Christ.

2. Passionately pursue our core mandate, which Love says may not have much to do with the words mission or missionary but, in fact, may have more to do with the idea of blessing as seen in the Abrahamic promise.

3. Truly represent our core identity, which should have some kind of serving role in the community in which we live.

D. Examples of Identity with Integrity:

1. L. Mak found himself rumored to be a much-despised missionary in a closed country. When he googled himself, he found out why. What preserved his relationships was the excellence of his professional work and the sincerity and love of his personal friendships.

2. Bob Blincoe served in Northern Iraq. He found himself targeted by the top leaders of the controlling regime. The community in which he lived surrounded him with their protection because his integrity and track record of service convinced them that his intentions were for the good of the local people.

VII. Family Structure Matters

Brian Hogan tells the story of missionaries sharing the gospel among the people most accessible to them: university students. It is not surprising that the initial group to follow Christ consisted of young women. These women enjoyed growing in Christ, but they affected few others. Missionaries had hoped to see a rapidly growing movement. But even though more young women joined the groups, the movement they hoped for was not going to happen.

Eventually, the gospel came to “older traditional Mongol men.” These men were not in the urban centers but were living and leading as nomadic elders with families in rural areas. Many families began to follow Christ. Only then was it said that “real Mongols” were following Christ. Soon after, the gospel movement began to grow vigorously.

Conclusion of Certificate Readings for this lesson.

After studying this section you should be able to:

• Describe four basic principles that will help missionaries communicate effectively in any society.
• Contrast the way the gospel usually flows in the different social structures found in urban, peasant, and tribal societies.
• Evaluate decisions regarding a missionary lifestyle in terms of effectiveness in influencing and identifying with people of the receiving culture.

VIII. How Social Structure Changes Communication Communication across cultures involves multiple steps. We’ve seen how effective missionaries initially seek to learn language and culture through relationships with local people. We’ve seen how those relationships are enhanced when missionaries present themselves in socially recognized roles that are appropriate and acceptable. When missionaries fail to interact with respect for matters of social structure, such as roles and status, their words may be intelligible but will not likely be received as credible.

Now we consider how gospel communication can flow in powerful ways throughout a society beyond the initial communication of the missionary. The focus of gospel communication should always be to enable local people to become effective, reproducing communicators of the life of following Jesus. Not every person within a society has the same potential for extending the gospel in effective ways. Some societies are structured in such a way that it becomes critically important for gospel communication to be initiated by people with particular roles and status. Paul G. Hiebert explains how communication flows within three different kinds of social structures.

A. Tribal Societies. Tribal decisions are made by a limited number of elders. Most people movements have flourished in these kinds of social structures. Note how missionaries need to evaluate and understand the group decision-making process. According to the diagram of this type of society in the following article, to whom should the gospel be addressed? How will most people hear and decide to follow Jesus?

B. Peasant Societies. Leadership is exerted by a powerful elite. Caste groupings are common but not the only kind of societal group found in peasant societies. It is important to recognize that these kinds of societies abound in urban environments. Just because another category of social structure is called “urban” does not mean that peasant societies are not found in cities. People movements often take place in such social groupings. The question is raised, “To whom should we go first?” Should we go to the dominant elite or to the poor and powerless at the bottom of society? Hiebert describes how both approaches have been used with mixed success.

C. Urban or Metropolitan Societies. Individual decision-making patterns are dominant. Organizations are voluntary. Cities are marked by diversity and complexity, so gospel communicators must learn the specific urban context well to communicate appropriately and to envision the kinds of churches that will flourish.

1. Urban Social Organization. Hiebert describes the dynamics of roles (both simplex and multiplex) and families (both nuclear and extended). He explains why many of the diverse connections of kinship, informal associations, and formal institutions all operate like a subcultural community.

2. Churches in the City. The diversity of urban settings means that there is need for many different kinds and structures of churches to reach the various peoples and subgroups. Some of the tribal and peasant enclaves require intentional research to identify them and find appropriate ways to reach them. Take note of Hiebert’s warning: “One of the greatest obstacles to effective church planting in the city is our own preconceptions of what constitutes church” (p. 328). We’ll explore this more in lesson 13.

IX. Communication and Social Structure Effective missionaries aim to see most gospel communication accomplished by ordinary believers evangelizing through the normal dynamics of social interaction. Insights from the disciplines of cultural anthropology and sociology help missionaries find ways to instill movements that work with the dynamics of social structure instead of against them. Eugene A. Nida analyzes social structure and its significance for gospel communication.

A. Social Structure and Dynamics of Communication. Nida presents a flexible diagram of society (p. 331) that compares how communication differs in different structures. The communication that flows horizontally is powerful because it is reciprocal, which means there is trust. Horizontal communication carries the potential for a person who hears to become a person who passes on a message to many others. Outsiders find themselves restricted to vertical communication, which is never as powerful.

B. Face-to-Face or Homogeneous Societies. Nida uses terms that overlap with the terms used by Hiebert. The term “face-to-face society” includes both “peasant” and “tribal” societies. The terms “folk” and “primitive” closely overlap with “peasant” and “tribal.” Face-to-face societies are “homogeneous,” which means that most or all the people participate in a common life.

1. Folk or Peasant. In these societal structures, there is a dependency on and interaction with other societies or urban centers.

2. Primitive or Tribal. In these societal structures, there is an independence from outside influences.

C. Urban or Heterogeneous Societies. These complex societies contain minority groups in which communication functions in different ways. People are often living in transition between face-to-face communities and a larger mix of subcultures. Since they are living a “dual role,” it is important for missionaries to recognize distinctions and connections between classes and subcultures.

D. Communicative Approach in Any Society. There are four principles of communication related to social structure that apply to any culture:

1. Personal Friendship. Relationships foster a connection with the entire community in what Nida describes as a sort of sponsorship dynamic. How much more meaningful would a message be if it was introduced by a trusted sponsor?

2. Choose Effective Communicators for Your Initial Approach. The most important of the four principles is to make the initial approach to those who can effectively pass on the communication.

3. Allow Time. Group decisions take time, often weeks and months. Individuals who are perceived to have made a decision that threatens group solidarity often bring about a larger negative response.

4. Address Decision Makers. If people are being challenged to make a decision that changes beliefs or social structure, it is imperative that such a message is conveyed to key people who are socially capable of making such a decision.

X. An Example of Communication in Social Structure

Dean Hubbard tells the story of movements in India.

A. Multiple Identities: Caste and Socioeconomic Condition. The first leader mentioned (in lesson 10), named Bhimrao, spent months traveling to scores of villages to communicate the gospel with the Kowadi people. Eventually, the communication of the gospel culminated in a three-day festival. When opposition arose, the publicity brought “The Gathering of Christ Worshipers” to the attention of other castes and communities. Without direct communication with them, these other groups became interested and began to follow Christ. Hubbard says that “it appeared that the gospel was leaping over traditional caste boundaries by virtue of a broader identity based on socioeconomic condition” (p. 477).

B. A Key Leader. Two single women (yet another pair of single women!) found that they were perceived as the fulfillment of a vision seen by a Hindu priest. When the priest decided to entrust himself to Jesus, many others followed.

C. Well-Positioned Communicators. The movement among the Bansari got underway because of the influence of a “young, educated Bansari man” who approached an Indian Christian leader. He led fourteen of his friends to Christ. The roles of three of the new followers “proved especially effective” in extending the gospel. Why? What were their roles?